How Audience Segmentation Boosted Our Giving Tuesday Campaign
Donor Detectives Team
If you work at a nonprofit organization or are involved in fundraising efforts, you’re likely very familiar with Giving Tuesday. For many years, Giving Tuesday has been the day—more recently, the week or even weeks—dedicated to giving back to the community. Consequently, many nonprofits invest extra time, effort, and resources to make the most of this incredible event, when donors are especially generous in supporting their preferred missions.
Giving Tuesday can be both exciting and overwhelming for fundraisers. While the annual outpouring of support is heartwarming, it requires meticulous planning and significant resources to stand out in a crowded market. Each year, more organizations participate, and fundraisers must also contend with competing messages from holiday offers and, every two years, the noise of political elections. This year, with the presidential elections, the competition—and stress—reached new heights.
Giving Tuesday Challenges
In digital fundraising, capturing and retaining users’ attention is especially challenging, and email marketing is no exception. During the weeks leading up to Giving Tuesday, inboxes are flooded with promotions: Thanksgiving specials, Black Friday discounts, Cyber Monday deals—you name it. Getting recipients to open your emails is a feat in itself, let alone persuading them to make a generous donation to your cause.
This year, we took a bold step with one of our clients: implementing a long-overdue email audience segmentation strategy. It was a risky move, especially during Giving Tuesday, when email remains a cornerstone of nonprofit online fundraising despite modern challenges. However, with years of fundraising experience, we at Donor Detectives know that segmentation is not optional—it’s essential for organizations committed to building robust online programs. Together with our client, we embraced the challenge. Read on to see the results.
The Test: What We Wanted to Learn & How We Segmented the Audience
The big question: Could audience segmentation improve engagement and results compared to a single broad email send, which had been the client’s go-to strategy for years?
Control: We used last year’s campaign as the control while acknowledging that several factors could affect the comparison—e.g., Giving Tuesday’s changing date, the election year, and economic fluctuations. To maintain a fair test, we kept key strategies consistent, such as the number of emails sent and their timing. Messaging also remained similar, except for slight personalization introduced as part of the segmentation strategy.
Test: We segmented the client’s donor base into four main categories: active donors, lapsed donors, mid-level donors, and major donors. These groups were defined by the recency and value of their previous contributions. For mid-level and major donors, we tailored the email copy to recognize their past generosity explicitly.
While we adhered to the client’s specific definitions for each segment, it’s worth noting that segmentation criteria can vary across organizations. Regardless of the details, the principle of segmentation remains universally applicable.
Why Segmentation Works
So, did the segmented campaign outperform the broad email approach? Yes—by a significant margin!
All else being equal (email count, timing, and offer), the segmented campaign achieved:
- A 35% higher conversion rate, leading to
- 146% more gifts.
While the average gift amount dropped by 28% (a common trade-off between volume and average gift size), the surge in the number of donations resulted in a 76% increase in total revenue.
Beyond the campaign’s overall success, segmentation provided valuable insights into donor behavior. For example, while all segments engaged with the emails, mid-level and major donors showed the highest engagement (opens and clicks). These segments also contributed gifts that were 448% larger on average than those from active and lapsed donors.
Key Takeaways
In today’s digital landscape, segmentation is no longer optional. Here are two major lessons from our test:
- Visibility into Donor Behavior:
Segmenting your audience into meaningful categories provides critical insights into each group’s engagement and giving patterns. For instance, while mid-level and major donors predictably gave higher amounts, we also saw potential to increase the average gift size among active and lapsed donors. - Personalized Messaging:
Segmentation allows you to tailor messages to specific donor groups, making them feel valued and recognized. Your donors are the backbone of your mission, and personalized communication strengthens their connection to your cause.
What’s Next?
This Giving Tuesday segmentation strategy was just the beginning. With these insights, we’re embarking on a longer journey to deepen our understanding of donor segments and test new messaging approaches. The era of one-size-fits-all campaigns is over, and we’re excited about the opportunities ahead for this mission and its supporters.
As you plan your fundraising efforts, consider testing segmentation strategies. Take the time to learn what works best for your email platform and audience. With some preparation, you can develop a strong segmentation strategy in time for Giving Tuesday next year!